Henry pulster



'- '(No Model.) U V H. PULSTER.

KNITTING MACHINE.

A No.534,969. PaQtentedPb.26,18-95.

1 H64 I E 3 2' HIE-1." I"

UNTTE STATES HENRY PULSTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO KLAUDER & BROTHER, OF SAME PLACE.

KNlTTlNG MACHlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 534,969, dated February 26, 1 895.

Application filed August 4, 1887.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY PULsTER, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference to knitting machines, and consists in certain improvements all of which are fully set forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a knitting machine adapted to tuck work, and to enable the floats or loose threads usually found upon the back of figured work to be tied into the body or face part of the fabric.

I have for a further object the construction of aknitting machine by which by the proper adjustment of several sets of needles and corresponding cams, I am enabled to produce a large number of different designs of fabric, some of which are set out in my following applications: Serial No. 244,93-1, (Patent No. 426,322,) Serial No. 242,208, (Patent No. 409,425,) SerialNo. 244,839, and Serial No. 245,061. 7 T

An additional feature of my invention is the yarn guide wheel whereby I amenabled to feed the yarn to the needles under constant and uniform tension.

In carrying out my invention I provide the needle head with an inside recessed sinker head so formed that the ldops may be pulled down under its shoulder and beheld there while the needles ascend to take another thread. The needles are operated in connection with this recessed sinker head by tuck and plain cams so as to operate in sets and each set to act upon certain threads and not on others. In speaking ofa number of cams of one kind I will call them a set of cams for convenience. The completed machine has two or more sets of predetermined cams for the cam ring to reciprocate the needles, two or three of which sets are employed in conjunction with two, three, or four sets of needles having their jacks suitably formed for working on said cams to knit the different va-. rieties offabrics to be produced upon the ma: chine. In using the term sets of cams and Serial No. 246,092. (No model.)

sets of needles I have reference to kinds of cams and needles. Thus, for instance, all the cams like Fig. 5 I call one set, all like Fig. 4 another set, andv likewise all theNo. 1 needles one set, and so on. Having once determined the construction of the needle jacks, and the extent of the tuck part of the cams, it then simply remains to arrange them in a predetermined order wherebythey shall produce the different kindsof fabrics.

The threads or yarns are fed to the needles from bobbins in the usual Way except that in place of the well known eyes for creating tension next to the needles I employ friction creating or tension wheels having grooved peripheries. This enables the machine to be clear from obstruction about the needles. In the old way, a supporting ring was placed outside of the cam ring and carried the tension guides, the whole forming an objectionable obstruction to the operator when it was desired to work around the outside of the machine. With my improved guide tension wheel this objection is removed as the wheels are arranged close up to the thread guides.

Great trouble was experienced with the tension as it was. not uniform but with my improvement the tension in practice appears to be perfect.

Tuck cam machines for figured work are well known but as far as I am aware the employment in such a machine, of a recessed sinker head is novel, andit is upon this combination that I am enabled to produce the desired results.

I do not limit myself to the particular or specific construction of parts shown as they may be modified without departing from my invention.

In the drawings:-Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a knitting machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan View of same. Fig. 3 represents side elevae tions of four needles adapted to be used with my improved machine in making different designs of fabrics. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are elevations of the cams used upon my improved machine for producing the various designs of fabrics. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the arrangement of a number of threaded guides around the needle head, and Fig. 8 is an elevation showing one arrangement of the cams for making different kinds of fabrics.

A is the rotary needle head and'is provided with the sinker head B at its top the lower edge of which is recessed at bforming shoulders b to prevent the thread from riding up with the ascent of the needles.

0 are the needles and are provided with the jacks D. These needles are adapted to reciprocate and are of the latch needle type. The needles I use in connection with my machine are shown in Fig. 3 and are numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. Needle No.1 has the usual full jack and rises and descends the full distance as is customary in knitting plain knitted goods of uniform color or with horizontal stripes. Needle No. 2 has its jack D provided with a notch cl at the upper part and is adapted to rise the full height but to descend at times only part way down so as to draw the loop down back of the sinker B but not sufficiently to liberate the loop already upon it. Needle No. 3 has its jack notched deeply at d on the bottom so that it shall at times not rise sufficiently to take any thread. Needle No. 4 has its jack notched on the lower part at d corresponding to but somewhat deeper than the top notch d of the jack of needle No. 2 so that at certain times it shall rise sufficiently to take in an extra thread to form the figure, but shall not rise high enough to take the body thread. These needles rise and fall to the different levels by having their jacks pass over suitably formed stationary cams F. These cams are of uniform size and are adapted to be used with my improved machine. They are shown in Figs. 4to 6 and are all V shaped, and otherwise consist of the simple block F having the guide edges J, J. These cams are similar except so far as the notch or tuck portion f is concerned which in Fig. 4 is small to correspond to the notches of needles 2 and 4; and in Fig. 5 is large to correspond to the notch in needle 3. The cam shown in Fig. 6 is the plain cam and acts on all of the needles alike. The cam of Fig. 4 if above, will make needles 1, 3 and 4 descend fully, but needle 2 only part way. If arranged below then it will make needles 1 and 2 rise fully and needles 3 and 4 only partly. The cam shown in Fig. 5 is used below and will make needles 1 and 2 rise fully and needles 3 and 4 only partly.

In practice it is customary to employ either cam of Fig. 4 or Fig. 5 in the lower row of cams but not both, though it is evident that this may be done. In this latter case however the needle 4 would rise on cam of Fig. 5 substantially as if it were acted on by cam of Fig. 4.

Referring again to Fig. 1 I have the cams F arranged above and below with the points directed toward each other so as to form a zig zag cam way as shown in Fig. 8, in which and between the cams of which the jacks of the needles Work. These cams F are secured them fast to the inside of the cam ring but allow them to be replaced by others, so that by suitably arranging the cams shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, and also the needles to work in conjunction with them, I am enabled to produce different styles of fabrics as explained in detail hereinafter. The needle head is rotated by any suitable gearing G in usual manner. H, H are the thread guides and are essentially divided into two sets, those If to feed in the body threads and those H to feed in the figure threads, and these guides may be arranged alternately or otherwise to suit the pattern to be knitted. It will now be seen that the greatest upward and downward throws of the cam way are substantially in the same horizontal line, and that the zig zag cam way has an equal maximum up and down throw. The thread guides correspond to the number of cams and are arranged above each lower cam and those guides above the notched cams are of less height than those above the full cams.

The thread N passes from the source of supply under the tension roller L preferably of wood having the groove Z to receive the thread, and this roller by friction of the thread on its periphery, and of the roller axis m in the bearing M, insures a uniform tension to the thread. From the tension wheel the thread passes through the guide H to the needles. This roller is preferably journaled in a rear extension of the thread guide, which is arranged close to the needles, and has its groove in line with the hole in the thread guide.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of abig balmoral frame having a large number of thread guides and of course a correspondingnumber of cams F. The action of the recessed sinker head 13 is to hold down the loops on the needles while the needles are ascendingthat is to say, when the cam shown in Fig. 4 acts upon needles 2 the needles descend sufficiently to bring the thread last caught by its hook, down back of the sinker and under its part B. The action of the recessed sinker head B is to hold down the loops on the needles while ascending and place the said loops in position to be freed from the needles and lie at the back of the body loops when desired. When the simple tying in of theibacking threads or floats is required as shown in my application, Serial No. 244,839, I use the cams as shown in Fig. 8 and needles Nos. 3 and 4 arranged alternately. In this case the needles do not rise to the same height. Thus, needles4 will rise higher on cam of Fig. 5 than needles 3. The needles 3 rise to the swelled portion of the sinker head, while the needles 4 rise higher to the lower thread guide, and take the backing thread and upon descending draw it back of the needles 3 by the sinker head, and when all of the needles again reciprocate by a cam of Fig. 6, they form the body'loop and tie in the floats. The combination of cams and ICC needles therein set out, enable one to produce a very large variety of new fabrics, a few only of which are herein referred to for examples.

To make stockinette fabric such as set out in my application, Serial N 0. 244,839, I arrange the cams as above and employ No. 3 and No. 4 needles arranged alternately, and in connection with these needles I use two sets of thread guides, one arranged at a higher elevation than the other. (See solid and dotted lines Fig. 1.) In Fig. 7 H represents the low thread guides and H the high thread guides.

'Needles 4 rise high enough to take a thread from the lower guides H, while passing over cams of Fig. 5; whereas needles 3 do not, but all of the needles rise to take the body thread from guides H when passing over cams of Fig. 6.

To make seer sucker knitted fabric such as set out in my application, Serial No. 244,931, I arrange plain cams on the top and on the bottom I arrange plain cams and tuck cams shown in Fig. 5 alternately as shown in Fig. 8, and with these cams I employ the following needles, viz.: three of No. 1 needles, two of No. 3 needles and one of No. 4 needles, needles No. 1 being arranged consecutively and needles Nos. 3 and 4 arranged alternately.

The arrangements of the cams for producing the fabrics of my applications, Serial Nos. 242,208, and 245,061 are after the order of those above mentioned and will be obvious to any one skilled in the art.

I do not limit myself to any particular arrangement of cams and needles as they may be combined in numerous ways. The embodiment of the tuck cams, needles as here shown, and asinker head in the same machine working in combination to produce unitary results I believe is entirely novel and this is the essential feature of my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a knitting machine, a rotating needle head, in combination with a stationary thread guide arranged close to the needles and a tension roller formed of wood arranged close to said guide and around which the thread is fed to the guide.

2. In a knitting machine, a rotating needle head in combination with a stationary thread guide arranged close to the needles and a grooved tension roller arranged close to said guide and around which the thread is fed to the guide.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination of the needle head having a recessed sinker head at its top, a cam ring, a zig zag camway of equal maximum up and down throw, part at least of the points of said camway where the throw changes being notched or tucked as herein set out, two or more sets of needles having jacks to work in said camway, and one or more of said sets of said needles having their jacks notched to correspond to the notches of the cams, and a series of thread guides for said needles corresponding to the number of zig zags in the camway, and in which the said guides above the notched parts of the cams are of less height than those above the other parts of the cams.

4. In a knitting machine, a rotating'needle head and needles in combination with a stationary thread guide arranged close to the needles, an extension from the rear of said thread guide and a tension roller j ournaled therein andin line with the holesin the thread guide.

In testimony ofwhich invention I hereunto set my hand. p

HENRY PULSTER.

Witnesses:

R. M. HUNTER, ANDREW ZANE, Jr. 

